Taiwan Bank Offerings Fail

Reuters

Published: May 12, 1990

TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 11—
Failure of a public offer to sell 46 million Government shares in three state-run commercial banks will delay Taiwan's efforts to privatize state companies, bank officials and stock analysts said today.

''The offer is a total failure,'' said Huang Feng-yi, manager of the state-owned Bank of Communications, the chief underwriter for the deal.

By today's deadline, only 257 people out of 46,343 eligible applicants had bought Government shares in the First Commercial, Hua Nan Commercial and Chang Hwa Commercial banks, he said.

The offer, intended as a showcase introduction to Taipei's privatization drive, dimmed as the gloom surrounding Taiwan's once-booming stock market carried share prices below the prices set for the Government stocks.

Finance Ministry officials said they had not decided whether the Government would attempt a second offer this year.

Bankers and stock analysts said the failure would also cause other state companies, including the China Steel Corporation, to delay its plans to sell 350 million shares. China Steel, which successfully sold about 150 million shares last year, had planned to make the offer in late June.